wildwanderer – Page 2 – Wild Wanderer

“N2”- South Snowdon – 13,060

RT Length: 8.15 miles

Elevation Gain: 2416’

I once again started from the Andrews Lake Trailhead. When the bathrooms are clean this is a really nice trailhead, up close and personal with Andrews Lake. It’s also quite popular in summer, so get there early (yes, they have plenty of parking and an overflow lot, but it gets busy).

The trail starts by skirting the lake from the parking area and then ascends about 1.2 miles to a junction.

At the trail junction I went left and followed the trail through a meadow and towards the basin below Snowdon Peak. If you’ve done the West Buttress of Snowdon, it’s much of the same route. Here’s the basic overall route to the upper basin:

And some pictures of the way to the lower basin. I was lucky enough to see a herd of elk this morning.

At the base of the basin it’s time to leave the trail. I’d hiked about 2.7 miles to this point. Here I left the trail and headed southwest into the upper basin.

Heading southwest in the upper basin I came to a small pond and skirted it on a game trail to the west.

After skirting the pond, I came to a bit of a ravine. I followed it south. The route is a bit obvious, and the terrain is easy to navigate. You can’t really get lost if you keep heading south. Access to N2 will eventually be on your left.

When I made it to 12355’ I started heading over towards the ridge. This is class 2 to the ridge and choose your own adventure. I was trying to avoid the rock outcropping. Most of the route is full of loose rock and boulders. I ascended the left route, descended the right route, and both were loose and a bit miserable, but the left route was a little more stable. Here’s the overall route:

And some pictures of my way to the ridge

Once on the ridge I followed it southeast to the summit. Once again, very rocky, but all class 2.

I summited N2 at 8am

N2:

This was my only peak for today, so I turned around and headed back the way same way I’d summited. I headed northwest down the ridge

Then back down into the upper basin on a slightly different route. Lots of loose rocks here.

Once I was done with the rocks I turned right and followed the upper basin north, staying on the grassy areas.

I came to the small pond and skirted it to the left, and then headed down into the lower basin and back to the trail

Then it was a quick 2.7 miles back to the Andrews Lake Trailhead

I made it back to the trailhead at 10:15am, making this an 8.15 mile hike with 2416’ of elevation gain in 4 hours, 45 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

West Needle Mountain – 13,060

RT Length: 19.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 4853’

I started from the Andrews Lake trailhead at 6am. On a positive note, the bathrooms were clean this time! No toilet paper, but the seats were clean (always bring your own TP). The trail starts by skirting the south side of the lake.

I then took Trail 623/Crater Lake Trail all the way to Crater Lake. This is an easy, class 1 trail that is easy to follow with no major junctions. I hiked the 5.5 miles to Crater Lake on this trail.

Once at Crater Lake there’s a side trail that goes off to the left. This trail stops at 11750’ at a small pond. I took the trail to the pond.

The trail stops at 11750’ and now it’s time to bushwhack. I lost 400’ of elevation as I headed southwest towards a gully I couldn’t yet see. Here’s an overview of where I was headed.

Aiming southwest I skirted the hillside until I came to the end of the trees.

I now had a clear view of my path to the saddle between South Twilight Peak and PT 12932. I kept descending towards the creekbed and then ascended up 1260’ towards the saddle.

The route was obvious but not marked. I went to the left on the way up, to the right on the way down, and both were similar. The left side had larger boulders and the right side had more tundra, but both were essentially snow free and clear.

Here are some pictures of the route to the saddle

Now at the saddle I had to descend a bit to traverse towards West Needle Mountain. I descended about 25 feet to the south and found an access gully on the left that would get me around the rock outcroppings.

I ascended the class 2 gully

From the top of the gully I could see my intended route for West Needle Mountain. I would initially stay high, just under the rock outcroppings, then pick up a game trail for a while and follow it towards the base of the ridge in the distance, aiming towards just below the two large outcroppings and up a gully.

Here are some pictures of the route to the base of the gully I used.

From here it’s a great time to look at the route before you. This is choose your own adventure, and there seem to be a lot of different possibilities for gaining the ridge. All class 3. This is the route I chose, first going up the loose and rocky gully then straight up the class 3 face.

Once on the ridge it was still choose your own adventure. I stuck mainly to the ridge itself in class 3 terrain. There was one ‘sketchy’ move where I had to slide down a 10-15 foot boulder/rock slab and shimmy down. It wasn’t difficult, but there was exposure. The entire ridge for me was ‘figure it out as you go’. I just kept following it up, never cliffed out, and kept heading southwest.

Of course there was a false summit, but luckily the terrain got easier from there.

I summited West Needle Mountain at 11:40am

West Needle Mountain:

This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned around and headed towards the false summit

Then back down the ridge. Downclimbing seemed much easier than upclimbing on this route. The route was easier to ‘find’ on the way down.

And then back towards the gully. It’s easy to know when to start the descent towards the gully as the terrain gets noticeably easier and you have a line of sight as to where you need to descend.

From the base of the gully this is my route back up to the saddle. I’d be ascending about 250’ to get there.

Then it was back down the gully and up towards the saddle

From the saddle I could see my route back towards Crater Lake. I’d descend back down 1260’, then up 400’.

First to head back down the drainage

Then to head back up towards the pond at 11750’. To help me navigate I first aimed for this large boulder in the distance, then headed north through the trees.

Once at the pond at 11750’ I found the Crater Lake Trail and took it the 5.5 miles back to Andrews Lake.

I made it back to my truck at 5:30pm, making this a 19.1 mile hike with 4853’ of elevation gain in 11 hours, 30 minutes. At least according to CalTopo. Strava gave me different numbers.

On to the next trailhead!

T5 – 13,437

RT Length: 10.6 miles

Elevation Gain: 4688’

First of all, parking in Telluride is challenging. I arrived the day before and when I got to the trailhead there weren’t any parking spaces available for any vehicles to park there at all, so I turned around and looked for a place to park in town. Nope. Nothing. There were signs everywhere stating it is illegal in Telluride to sleep in your vehicle (how can THAT be legal?), and all lots had 2am-6am “No Parking or you’ll get towed” restrictions. Street parking was limited to 2 hours unless you were a resident and had a pass. This was frustrating! I was glad I’d arrived a day early. Not sure of what to do, I called the Chamber of Commerce/Tourism and they told me I could park in the parking garage ($2 per hour, but $50 if I stayed overnight), or try the residential area off Galena and park in front of someone’s house. I couldn’t park there overnight, but it should be ok for day use. I found a dispersed campsite away from town and came back early in the morning to try Galena Street. I was able to find a spot in front of someone’s house, which I felt weird parking in, and I was on my way. With all of the crazy restrictions I hoped no one would tow my vehicle. I took Galena to Tomboy and hiked the road to the trailhead.

This was labeled on CalTopo as Liberty Bells Trail, but the trailhead called it the Jud Wiebe Trail. I’ve found a lot of inconsistencies with Telluride trail names. The gate was locked to vehicles so I walked under it and was on my way. The trail starts out heading northwest towards some water tanks and then continues heading northeast to treeline. The trail was very well maintained and easy to follow. The wildflowers were on point.

On CalTopo this trail is labeled as the Liberty Bell Trail, and it goes through Liberty Flats. Let me tell you, there was nothing flat about this trail. It kept climbing up, up, up, alternating from being a trail to being an old 4WD road.

After hiking for around 1.3 miles (from where I’d started) I came to a junction for the Jud Wiebe Trail. I continued straight on the Liberty Bells Trail.

I came to another unnamed junction, and not really knowing which way to go since it wasn’t on any of my maps I went right. This happened to be the correct choice.

I continued following the trail past an old mine and up to treeline.

At treeline I came to a junction with the Sheridan Crosscut Trail and turned left.

This trail was a bit fainter but still easy to follow. I headed northeast up the basin to a ridge. Here’s an overview of the route:

And some pictures to that ridge. Here is where I put on my microspikes and kept them on to the summit. The trail in many areas looks like it has been washed out due to rockslides/snow and some of the areas are sketchy. Unstable scree abounds.

At the top of this ridge the trail turned and started heading northeast, rounding down into the basin and then gaining the ridge.

Here’s an overall picture of where you’re headed. There’s a good trail to get you to the base of a gully in the distance (but still keep an eye out for loose rocks/scree).

And some pictures along the way to the small gully

It’s obvious where to ascend the gully, as the trail stops. I turned and headed north to the ridge. The gully isn’t very long, maybe 100 feet or so of elevation gain.

At the top of the gully is a wind break made out of rocks, and a sign that says “Krogers Canteen”. There were also beer bottles on the ground that hadn’t been opened (but were only halfway full).

I walked through the wind break and followed the ridge east

This is what I considered the “spiciest” part of the route. I’ve outlined the route up, but recent rockfall has made this area especially unstable. Scree-valanches will start from underneath you and rocks will fall like an hourglass from above and below. It looks like there used to be an easier way to ascend, but recent rockfall has changed the route. There are parts of what used to be a trail here.

Now on the ridge I followed it east towards 13337 (false summit). There was some unavoidable snow to traverse. I went both ways around the boulder in the middle, one on the ascent, the other on the descent. Both were class 2.

The toughest part was over, now it was a class 2 ridge hike following the ridge to the summit (after going over the false summit first).

From the top of the false summit it was an easy ridge hike to the summit of T5

I summited T5 at 9am

T5:

Now to head back down. This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned around and headed back the way I came.

I headed back towards the false summit

And then back down the snow to the gully

I then carefully navigated my way back down the to the gully and back to the trail below.

Once on the trail I followed it around 4 miles back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 11:45am, making this a 10.6 mile hike with 4688’ of elevation gain in 6 hours 30 minutes. Sorry about the poor topo. Something happened with Strava halfway through my hike and it pinged back near 145, then back up to me for the descent. Gotta love technology.

Also, I’d already attempted this peak the easier way, through Governor Basin, but there’s now a sign saying it’s a working mine and you need permission to hike through there, so I turned around and tried a different route.

On to the next trailhead!

Snowdon Peak – 13,090 and ‘N1’ – 12,647

RT Length: 8.42 miles

Elevation Gain: 2746’

Yep, it’s been a while. Those of you who follow me on my socials know what I’ve been up to, and I’ve been busy! I’m really excited to have a few months off to tackle more peaks (kind of… I still need to travel for work most of August. WHY is that my busiest climbing month, and my busiest work month???). Most of the 13ers I have left still need to ‘melt out’ before I can climb them, but when I heard Snowdon was all clear I drove down to Andrews Lake and had to see for myself.

Andrews Lake has plenty of parking, and even an overflow lot. However, that didn’t stop it from being full when I arrived. Also, the bathrooms were dirty (and bring your own toilet paper). Last time I was here the bathrooms didn’t lock. I was pleased to see they had been fixed.

I started from Andrews Lake at 5:30am, skirting the east side of the lake to the trail.

I followed this class 1 trail for about 1.3 miles to a junction with a trail register.

At the junction/trail register I turned left and followed an unnamed trail east/southeast.

This trail was well defined in the beginning, but in the marshy areas became non-existent and I had to route find a bit. There were areas with willows, marshes, and trees. There were a few downed trees along the trail, but nothing too difficult to cross. I was headed towards this gully (there’s a good trail at the base).

For reference, these are N1 and Snowdon

I followed the gully up a class 1, steep trail for 550’ in elevation.

At the top of the gully the trail ended. I went left and headed northeast towards the summit of N1. This was all class 2 and the route was obvious. It felt “too easy”, almost like it shouldn’t have been ranked.

I summited ‘N1’ at 7am

N1:

Now for Snowdon Peak. I turned and headed southwest back to the Snowdon/N1 saddle, to the right of the ridge.

Now to head up the ridge. There are several ways to do this. On my ascent I stuck to the ridge proper, which went at class 3. On the way back down I found a faint trail that kept this area at class 2 after climbing about halfway up the ridge. Here’s a picture of that trail:

And some pictures of the ridge. I was able to take the ridge proper to the next saddle until I came across the game trail, which was much easier.

If you don’t already have your helmet on now is the time to do so. There are several routes up this ridge. I took the ridge proper at class 3 all the way to 12900’ before dipping down and south, then traversing around the east side of the mountain to get to the summit (lots of cairns to help once I dipped down). However, you don’t need to take the ridge proper to this point. If you stay to the left of the ridge there are game trails that keep you about 50 feet below the ridge on class 2 terrain most of the way. Here are the routes:

Here are some pictures of the ridge route I took to 12,900’

On the ridge at 12,900’ I hit a snag, and realized I needed to drop down where I saw this gully. Directly below it I saw a cairn and headed that way. Here’s a visual of where you should go when you hit this area. Head down, not up, and continue around the left side.

From here on out there are cairns to the summit. If you don’t see a cairn, you’re off route. I kept heading left, and every time I wanted to ascend it seemed like I had to descend as well, but there were always cairns to help lead the way. This is class 3.

When I got to 13,010’ I saw this in front of me, and a cairn in the distance. Don’t head for that cairn. This is where you just scramble to the top from where you are.

It’s a short scramble, and soon I was on the relatively flat summit

I summited Snowdon Peak at 8:20am

Snowdon Peak:

Now to head back down. I took the same route back to the ridge following the cairns as I descended.

And now to follow the ridge back to the saddle. Here’s a visual of the route I took:

I found my access gully and headed back down to the trail.

I then followed the trail back through the marshes and trees towards Andrews Lake.

Once back on the Crater Lake Trail I followed it back to Andrews Lake.

I made it back to Andrews Lake at 10:30am, making this an 8.42 mile hike with 2747’ of elevation gain.

And for those of you wondering, my past few months consisted of: Getting married, buying property, Mexico, Cookie Cupboard for 2 months (I love Girl Scouts!!!), Florida, Washington DC, my son visiting from South Korea, 2 of my kids graduating College in different states during the same week (one of them Valedictorian!), Georgia for a week, South America for a month, building a ranch from the ground up (empty land, but after a few months of hard work I now have a well, a vineyard, an orchard and the animals have corrals). Raising yaks and alpacas (all the females are pregnant), a nasty tick bite that left me out of the sun for a month but gave me time to do a a couple of dozen podcasts, teaching Wilderness First Responder courses and several outdoor survival skill classes to multiple groups. Oh, and last week we got a puppy, so it’s been a little busy around here!

On to the next trailhead!

13223 and 13144

RT Length: 11.58 miles

Elevation Gain: 4141’

I started this hike at 6:45am from just below Rustler Gulch Trailhead. Rustler Gulch Trailhead is located off a 4WD road, and while there is a trailhead, there’s really only enough room for one or two small vehicles to park there. I tried parking my truck near the gate, and it stuck out halfway into the narrow road, so I backtracked and parked a bit earlier along the road.

I’ve been to this area in the summer, and while the wildflowers are beautiful, I knew I wanted to do this hike in the fall. In the summer the entire road to the trailhead is packed with vehicles, there are biting black flies, and I’d be hiking with 2000 other hikers. Not to mention the flowers: they’re beautiful, but I’d need to navigate my way through them (and the bees) to reach the ridge, which I didn’t want to do.

I walked a little bit up the road, and then hiked the Rustler Gulch trail for 3 miles. This trail is easy to follow, starting out in the trees before crossing several streams and entering the gulch.

After hiking for about 3 miles, I could see the route I wanted to take to gain the ridge.

This was fairly easy to do. I left the trail, and started heading northeast up the tundra slope, avoiding the rock outcroppings and willows along the way.

As I continued northeast, aiming for the ridge, the terrain got steeper and it changed from tundra to talus.

Once on top of the ridge I turned right and followed it east. I could see 13144 in the distance.

There are a lot of ups and downs along the ridges in this hike, gaining and losing and gaining elevation. This part of the ridge is class 2. If you find yourself in class 3 territory, you’re making it too difficult. Look for game trails to the right to avoid any potential class 3. Here are some pictures of this part of the ridge.

From about halfway along the ridge I could clearly see 13144, but I wasn’t headed there first. Instead, I was headed here:

I continued following the ridge (now heading northeast) to that point, still in class 2 territory.

I could now see 13223 to the north/northeast.

From this point, the most difficult part of the ridge is class 3. It’s mainly class 2, with a couple of class 3 climbs thrown in, especially at the beginning of the ridge and the final climb to the summit. This part of the ridge starts out with an airy class 3 move. I went to the right on a narrow shelf of rocks. Now is also probably a good time to point out the rock here, like the rest of the Maroon Bells area, is unstable and chossy. Most rocks will move, so be sure of your holds before continuing.

After the initial airy class 3 around the rock outcropping I was back into class 2 territory for a while

Until I came here. I came to a point in the ridge that was narrow and had gullies on each side. While these gullies looked like they went at difficult class 2, they had kitty-litter scree on top of hard sand, steep drop offs, and a lot of exposure. The best (safest) way to traverse this is to downclimb to the narrow point at the top of both gullies, then climb straight up the rock. This was the crux of the climb, and had exposure, but it was no more than class 3 (and much easier to downclimb). There are plenty of holds to use, just make sure they’re stable before committing. This is much easier to do than pictures make it look, and indeed, than it looked at the time.

From here, the rest of the ridge is class 2/difficult class 2. If it looks more difficult than class 2, look for a game trail to the left or the right of the ridge.

There’s a bump in the ridge, which I went over on my way to Belleview

The last bit to the summit starts out as class 2, then becomes class 3. I aimed for the depression in the rocks. This area is filled with broken pieces of rock, but there are sections of scree. Aim for the sections of scree as you ascend. Getting over this piece brought me to the final push to the summit.

Now I could see the final push to the summit. This is class 3, and loose, but easy climbing. This is the overall route I took:

I summited 13223 at 11am

13223:

Now to head back towards PT 13144.

I descended back to the ridge, and followed it the way I hiked in.

For brevity, and because I’m assuming you already hiked the ridge on the way in, I’m just going to show a few pictures of the ridge back towards 13144

And the final exit off the ridge

From here, it was a quick class 2 hike southeast to the summit of 13144

I summited 13144 at 12:15pm

13144:

I descended much the same way I ascended initially to the ridge. I headed northwest along the ridge, and then followed the ridge southwest, back towards Rustler Gulch.

Instead of ascending to the high point on the ridge, this time I descended just below the talus and scree, heading southwest on the grassy slope towards the trail below.

Back on the trail, I followed it west and then south through Rustler Gulch, back to the trailhead.

I made it back to my truck at 2:45pm, making this an 11.58 mile hike with 4141’ of elevation gain in 8 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Belleview Mountain – 13,248

RT Length: 12.15 miles

Elevation Gain: 3516’

I parked my truck at the East Fork Trailhead outside of Gothic, just passed Schoefield Pass. The road in is 4WD, but a high clearance 2WD vehicle with a competent driver can make it to the trailhead. There are bathrooms at the trailhead, and spaces for about 20 vehicles.

I was on the trail at 7am, following West Maroon Trail 1970

I stayed on this trail for about 2.2 miles. The trail began at treeline but quickly turned to tundra.

After hiking for about 2.2 miles, I came to a sign that said “West Maroon Pass”. Here there was a trail to the left that was unmarked. It’s trail 1974. I took that trail as it switchbacked northeast up the hillside.

I was headed for Frigid Air Pass on this class 1 trail.

Here are some pictures of the route from the upper basin to Frigid Air Pass. The trail intersected with the West Maroon Trail again, and I followed the trail north at the intersection to Frigid Air Pass.

At the top of the pass, I could see Belleview Mountain. I turned right and followed the ridge southeast. This is a long ridge, but it’s all class 2, with game trails to follow to the right to keep it class 2

Here are some pictures of the ridge:

The ridge ran out and it was time to start gaining elevation again. I continued southeast to PT 13210. There were no obvious trails here, but there were a lot of loose rocks and scree. This is still all class 2.

From the top of PT 13210, looking northeast I could see Belleview Mountain.

This is the overall route I took to get there:

I followed the ridge northeast on class 2 terrain, and then stayed to the right of the rock outcropping.

From the top of the small gully I turned left, and had a couple of options. I could ascend to the summit by going either left or right. Both options were difficult class 2. I went to the left first, to the right on the way down. The left side is difficult class 2, but there is more exposure on that side.

Then it was a class 2 rocky hike to the summit

I summited Belleview Mountain at 9:50am

Belleview Mountain:

On my way down I headed to the north of the summit, and then descended back to the small gully by heading south on scree.

Then it was back over to PT 13210

Back at PT 13210, I headed northwest back to the ridge

And then followed the ridge northwest towards Frigid Air Pass.

Along the ridge I got buzzed by a fast-flying helicopter, headed over to the Bells. It circled a few times, and then I never saw it again. I’m hoping it wasn’t a rescue mission. It was flying pretty close to the summits and ridges.

From Frigid Air Pass I regained the trail and headed southwest back into the basin. Here’s a visual of the class 1 route:

And some pictures. I took the trail back to the shortcut (1974, not labeled on signs), and then back to the West Maroon Trail

Back on the West Maroon Trail, I followed it southwest back to the trailhead

I made it back to my truck at 12:30pm, making this a 12.15 mile hike with 3516’ of elevation gain in 5.5 hours.

On to the next trailhead!

Proposal Peak – 13,339

RT Length: 3.4 miles

Elevation Gain: 1652’

I drove up Eureka Gulch Road to 11930’ and parked on the side of the road. This is a dirt road but can be driven in a high clearance 2WD. From my parking spot, I could see the route before me.

On my way in I went right, which ended up giving me needless elevation gain I would lose later. Instead, head south/southwest and use the route to the left. Game trails pick up there that will lead you to McCarty Basin.

I was on the trail at 6:45am. I started out by heading south/southwest up the tundra

As you can tell, I’d ascended too high and had to lose elevation to head into McCarty Basin. However, I could now see my route to Proposal Peak

I dropped down into McCarty Basin, and followed the tundra southwest

I came to a game trail, that brought me to the upper basin

I could now see my route to the ridge. If you want to keep this hike class 2, ascend to the saddle on the left, and skirt around the south side of the peak. This will include steep scree, but it will remain class 2. I chose to gain the ridge (the class 3 option).

I was able to follow the tundra all the way to the ridge

Once on the ridge I could see the true summit of Proposal Peak to the southwest.

I continued following the ridge south. This was all class 2.

Until I came here. There’s a short difficult class 3 section here. I would dare to say it borders on class 4 (if you’re short like me). It was much harder to navigate down than up, and so steep I couldn’t get a good picture of it looking down (I have a better one on the way back). I turned and faced the mountain and headed down. Be careful here: the rocks break off, so make sure you have a solid hand hold before committing your weight to a move. The ridge proper goes here at class 3, and it’s a very short section.

Here’s looking up at what I downclimbed:

Now for another short class 3 section, sticking to the ridge proper, before an easy class 2 hike to the summit.

I summited Proposal Peak at 8:15am

Proposal Peak:

Now to head back. I took much of the same route on my way back down. I followed the ridge to the class 3 section

And then climbed back up the class 3 chimney. This was much easier to navigate climbing up.

I now followed the ridge northeast, and then descended the gully back down to the basin.

Here’s a look at my route through McCarty Basin

On the right side of a small pond I found a game trail that would lead me almost all the way back to my truck.

With the road in sight, I followed the tundra north back to my truck

I made it back to my truck at 9am, making this a 3.4 mile hike with 1652’ of elevation gain in 2 hours, 15 minutes.

On to the next trailhead!

Bonita Peak – 13,286

RT Length: 1.62 miles

Elevation Gain: 1009’

I drove up Eureka Gulch on a 4WD road. This is a dirt road, but a high clearance 2WD can make it all the way. I parked at 12275’ and was on the trail at 3:15pm. This was a quick and easy hike. From the parking area I could see the peak.

I know I’d already summited V5 earlier that morning, and after heading to town, putting together a trip report, hassling with Verizon being down and having a few work meetings (which luckily were over Zoom, not a phone call), I drove to the next trailhead. When I got there it was 3pm, and I noticed how quick the summit route looked. I bet I could get it done in an hour or so, and why put off for tomorrow what I could do today? I put on my hiking boots and went at it.

I started by heading west up the tundra to the ridge

Once on the ridge I turned left and followed it south to the summit. The ridge started out with game trails below the rock outcroppings, and then turned rocky, but this entire hike was class 2.

I came to an area filled with scree and headed straight up.

This is where the terrain became rocky (still class 2). I followed the ridge south to the summit

I summited Bonita Peak at 3:55pm

Bonita Peak:

Now to head back down. I followed the rocky ridge north

I continued following it as it turned to tundra. Here’s where I descended:

And then to descend down the ridge, heading east back to my truck.

I made it back to my truck at 4:20pm, making this a 1.62 mile hike with 1009’ of elevation gain in 1 hour, 5 minutes. Yep, it was a quick and easy hike.

Also, there was a closed-up mine where I parked.

On to the next trailhead!

V5 – 13,164

RT Length: 9.05 miles

Elevation Gain: 3128’

I parked a little ways up Clear Lake Road at a dispersed campsite. The road is 4WD, but I could have driven all the way to Clear Lake. If you have a 4WD vehicle, this is an easy road to navigate all the way to the end. There’s just one obstacle: A boulder taking up half the road about a mile up. After that, it’s pretty straightforward.

I was on the trail at 5:30am. I followed the road for 3.5 miles up to 11820’

At 11820’ I left the trail, and headed northeast up this tundra slope, towards a mining road

When I reached the mining road I followed it west, then east, then west as it switchbacked to 12530’. Here’s an overview of my route:

At 12530’ I left the mining road and headed northeast up the tundra. The tundra eventually changed to scree, but this was all class 2.

At the top of the scree I was now on the ridge. If you don’t already have on your helmet, now is the time to put it on. This next section is a class 3 gully.

While not entirely solid, it’s much easier to navigate than it looks. This is the route I took to access the gully:

Here’s a look at the class 3 gully. It’s easier to navigate than it looks.

At the top of the gully I turned left and hiked the class 2 ridge northwest to the summit

Here are some pictures of the rocky (but class 2) ridge

I summited V5 at 8:10am

V5:

This was an out and back hike for me, so I turned around and headed back down the ridge.

Then it was back down the gully

And back to the scree, which turned to tundra, which took me to the mining road

I followed the mining road back to 12220’

And then hiked down the tundra to the road I could see below.

Once on the road, I hiked it back to my truck.

I made it back to my truck at 10am, making this a 9.05 mile hike with 3128’ of elevation gain in 4.5 hours

On to the next trailhead!

Hayden Mountain North – 13,131

RT Length: 6.51 miles

Elevation Gain: 3534’

I parked at the Hayden Trailhead at Crystal Lake and was on the trail at 6:45am. This is a very popular trailhead, especially during the fall color season. There’s room for about 40 vehicles if everyone parks nicely, but this area does fill up. The beginning of the trail is obvious, marked by signs and a gate.

Before you start your hike, you should take a look at where you’re going. There are plenty of game trails to get you there, but that’s just the problem: There are SO MANY game trails, it’s easy to go the wrong way. I’m sure most of them meet up at times, but it’s a good idea to know where you’re going. Here’s the overall route to treeline:

I took the well established trail around the lake, then looked for the obvious avalanche slide area. There are two or three trails that pick up here and lead you into the trees.

The hardest part about this hike is making it to treeline. I picked up the most solid game trail I could find and followed it as it switchbacked up to Half Moon Basin. Every time I came to another game trail (there were dozens) I tried to follow the most established one. I was heading west until I hit 13125’, then I headed north to treeline.

Once above treeline, the rest of the hike was straightforward, but don’t be fooled by all the game trails here as well: They don’t lead to the summit. Also, I saw a ton of deer this morning, and a few bighorn sheep, which are most likely responsible for all the trails. I followed the tundra up this drainage

At the top of the drainage I needed to get up this little ridge. There was a game trail to the left I took to get there

From here I knew I could go either left or right. I chose left to make it to the ridge, as the right side had a gully and I’m not a fan of gullies (although on my way down I saw there looked to be a game trail up the right side of the gully, so it probably wouldn’t have been too bad). Here’s what going left (west) looks like:

Now I was at the base of the ridge. I hiked up the tundra slope, then followed the ridge northwest as it became manageable scree. This was all class 2.

Now I was on top of the ridge. I turned and followed it north to the summit. This was rocky, but the route was obvious and all class 2. Stay below the ridge proper, on the class 2 terrain. I took the third gully to the right. All of the gullies went, and they are all easier than these pictures make them look.

From the top of the gully I could see the summit. It was an easy hike to get there

I summited Hayden Mountain North at 9am

Hayden Mountain North:

Hayden Mountain North was my only peak for today, so I turned around and re-traced my steps. First, the rocky section headed south, down the gully and back to the ridge:

Then the scree/talus ridge down to the tundra

I now made my way back to the drainage

And followed it back to treeline

Once at treeline I had to find my access trail. This was more difficult than I’d imagined, but I kept heading south/southeast and I came to it.

Back on a robust game trail, I followed it back to the trail I knew was below me that would lead back to Crystal Lake. A note about this trail going down: It’s steep, and I was sliding on the small rocks on the trail. While I had no problems hiking up, I had to take it slow as I descended so as not to slip and fall down.